Konoha's New Shinobi
by Nelly Tayuchi
Summary: A new Shinobi enters the Village Hidden in the Leaves. What new adventures will this bring to Konoha village?
1. Chapter 1

Sadly I do not own Naruto or any characters... They all belong to the amazing Masashi Kishimoto, although this FanFic is based around my OC. I hope that you enjoy and follow the story.

Side note: when there is a " mark that means the character is saying it. but if there is a ' it means that the character is thinking. Just to make thing a bit more simple^.^ I am no expert writer! I haven't even finished high school so my writing skills are not at the best yet, but I promise that the storyline will be worth your time and attention.

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The chunin exams ended in a complete disaster with no genin able to complete the final stage. The disappointment was clear among most of the genin and even clearer among the ones who didn't even have their first fight in the final rounds. Not only did the games die early, but so did the 3rd hokage and many others protecting the village hidden in the leaves from Orochimaru and the sound village. The funeral was on a morning of a rainy day.

Sakura was bushing her hair and humming a slow sad song in the mirror, getting ready to pay respect for the hokage and other ninja's that lost their lives protecting this village. The streets were silent as no one muttered a word when passing her house to go to the memorial. The only sound was the rain pouring down onto the roofs. when Sakura finally felt happy with her looks, she stood up and exited the house to meet Sasuke and Naruto. She began walking down the street ignoring the rain that made her hair and clothes wet. She was about to turn a corner when she walked into someone.

"Would you watch where your going?!" Sakura shouted rubbing her forehead. She looked down and her eyes landed on a girl with very light blue hair, nearly white. The girl was holding a cub tiger and was soaking wet as Sakura accidently walked into her. "I-I mean... I'm really sorry! A-are you alright?" Sakura asked lending her a hand.

"I am fine, I am soo sorry! I should be watching where I'm going," the girl said taking her hand and stood up, she hid her tiger in her jumper so that only it's head and paws would be visible.

"Are you going to the funeral?" Sakura asked looking down at the floor. The girl nodded in response. "Then would you like to go with me?" she asked again and looked up at the pretty girl.

"Sure," she responded slightly smiling and looking toward the funeral. "Oh yeah, I didn't catch your name..." the girl mumbled looking a bit shy.

"R-right.. my name is Sakura Haruno, and what's yours?" Sakura said and began to walk towards the funeral.

"I am Kazumi Yamashina.." Kazumi said and followed after Sakura.

They walked for a while until they met up with Sasuke and Naruto. All of them looked at each other for a while and, in silence, continued to walk further. They arrived early and stood at the front, right in front of the memorial head stone. More and more people began to gather until the whole field was full of people. It was completely silent until a old man and lady dressed in black robes entered the front of the large field, they stood in front of the grave and began his speech about how brave lord hokage was and the sacrifices. The words meaning were crystal clear, to protect this village... even if that means giving up your life for it.

After the man finished with his speech, the Ninja's were given a white flower to place in front of the grave. As they placed the flowers in neat lines, the rain stopped and the sun began to shine across the village hidden in the leaves. The many people walked away to do their daily jobs, while others stayed and mourned the death of their close ones or the Hokage's. The spirits brightened among many of the ninja's as they rushed back to meet up with their teammates and friends. Most of them, except one girl with blue hair. Kazumi stayed facing the memorial stones, not moving on inch in any direction, as if she was made of stone. Sakura noticed and walked up to her and tapped her shoulder. Behind her were Sasuke and Naruto who was grinning.

"Kazumi right? Are ok?" Sakura asked sheepishly smiling. Kazumi looked surprised and turned around to face her.

"Oh, um yeah!" Kazumi answered, hugging her chest where the little tiger was.

"Where are your teammates?!" Naruto asked looking around the nearly empty field. As he said that, Kazumi's eyes filled up with tears and she quickly covered her eyes with her hand like she was shading them from the sun.

"Well, my sensei and Shoda died, I am not sure where the other is..." Kazumi said forcing a smile.

"So that means your not part of any squad anymore?" asked Sasuke and got a nod in response.

"I didn't see you at the Chunin exams! Are you even from here? Where's your head band?" Naruto asked suspiciously eyeing Kazumi. She pointed to her left thigh which had her headband tied around it.

"One of my team mates didn't want to take part so I was unable to take part," she said and sighing. "A-any way.. I don't know who you two are?"

"Right! I am Naruto Uzumaki! The future Hokage!" Naruto introduced himself energetically and grinned. Sasuke next to him rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"I am Sasuke Uchiha," he said not bothering much.

"N-nice meeting you all but I um have to walk Tsukiyama here," she gave them a weary smile and pulled the small tiger cub out of her black jumper which she wore over a black dress and held her up.

"Okay! See you around!" waved Sakura as she waked away with the two boys. When she was out of earshot, she began shouting at Naruto. Kazumi sighed and placed Tsukiyama on the floor and walked in the other direction.

"So Tsukiyama? Where do we go now? We're not part of a squad any more, and there can't be a four man squad can there?" Kazumi asked her partner as they walked towards the woods. Tsukiyama growled in response and nuzzled her owners bandaged leg. "Your right.. let's just wait and see..." they continued their walk in silence, after reaching the woods, Kazumi laid down on the long damp grass in a clearing to watch the birds n the sky and Tsukiyama pounced around in it. They stayed like this for a while until they heard a voice that was approaching their clearing. Tsukiyama stiffened and her ears twitched. "What is it?" asked Kazumi and sat up. But before she could do anything more, Tsukiyama began to run in that direct and growled ferociously. "Huh?! Tsukiyama!" Kazumi jumped up and sprinted after her partner. After losing sight of Tsukiyama, Kazumi slowed down and her ears twitched a bit and then she began to sprint in another direction looking in the bushes and up trees. She was barely paying attention to what was in front of her, suddenly she tripped and collided with another person. Kazumi ended up lying on a boy with a grey fur hood on and two red fang markings on his cheeks.

"Ouch!" the boy said not knowing what hit him.

"Huh?!" Kazumi looked around, somewhat dazed not knowing what broke her fall. After seeing the boy, she blushed and quickly rolled of him and stood up. "I am sooo sorry, are you hurt any where?" asked Kazumi and kneeled down next to him. 'Great Kazumi! You nearly killed another person to day!' she thought and slapped her bandaged up wrist.

"Oh no I'm fine," he said and sat up. "Don't worry 'bout it..."

"O-okay...have you seen Tsukiya.. I mean a small tiger around any where?" Kazumi asked and looked around the nearby trees and bushes.

"No, have you seen a small dog?" the boy asked and stood up. The girl shook her head and stood up as well.

"I think they went that way!" they said together and pointed down a path, then sprinted of together. The boy was slightly ahead of the girl as the girl was up in trees looking for them from above. There was still no sign of the two animals. Kazumi seemed to be alarmed by something, she jumped down from a tree and stopped the boy going any further by grabbing his hood and pulling it down reveling his messy brown hair.

"Hey! What the?!" he shouted surprised but Kazumi shook her head, slightly embarrassed by her actions, and pointed at a berry bush further along. They slowly walked towards it trying not to make a sound and pulled out their kunai knifes ready to attack whatever was behind it.

Once they were at arm reach, a small tiger with a black ribbon around it's tail jumped out growling loudly."Tsukiyama!" Kazumi shouted happily and picked up the cub and began hugging her tightly. "Don't go of like that again!" Kazumi said again and placed her down on the floor, only then did she notice a large blood stain on her chest and hands. "Huh?!" She picked her tiger up again and noticed that there where lots of cuts on her. "What happened?" asked Kazumi and Tsukiyama whined in response. "She said that there's a dog with her that's even more beaten up than she is."

"Akamaru!?" the boy said and flung himself into the bush. He came out with a unconscious puppy that had white fur, but now most of it was red.

"Is he alright?" she asked the boy looking at the heavily wounded dog.

"He's still breathing..." he answered and stroked the dog. "I'm sorry.."

"We should get back to the village, it's going to be late soon..." said Kazumi looking around. 'if only I knew the way back...'

"Yeah," answered the boy and began walking back the way they came. 'When I get my hands on that guy... he will regret ever looking at Akamaru!'... Kazumi followed after him still holding Tsukiyama and walked next to him in silence... The silence very soon turned into an awkward one.

"So.. umm.. what's your name?" she asked looking for an excuse to break the silence. When she was calm, she started to blushed.. she was in the woods alone... with a good looking boy her age and it was nearly night... She shook her head trying not to think such absurd thoughts.

"My name is Kiba Inuzuka. And what's yours?" asked Kiba in return.

"Well, my name is Kazumi Yamashina," Kazumi introduced herself and noticed that the little ninken called Akamaru was shivering from loss of blood. She opened a her black jumper and took out something that looked like a bag of food pills. She took one out and held it out to Kiba. "Give him this, it makes wounds heal quicker and the bleeding stop."

"Okay then.." Kiba took the pill and put it into his unconscious partners mouth. It looked like it had no effect at first, but after a minute, Akamaru stopped shaking and the blood stopped dripping from his wounds. "Wow! It really worked!"

"Y-yeah," answered Kazumi and fed Tsukiyama a pill too. The sun now was nearly completely gone and the forest was extremely dark. "Damn! I-I can't see a thing!" she murmured and a shiver run down her spine. She slowed down a bit watching her feet closely not to trip up when Tsukiyama began to whine. "You're too injured..."Kazumi responded to her but the cub began scratching her partners neck. The girl sighed and straitened herself, she placed her two hands together with her index and middle finger straight. "Tiger Seal! Night Seeing Jutsu!" As she said that, her usually green eyes became large round reflectors.

"You use animal techniques too?" Kiba asked overhearing her words and turned around to get spooked by her bright eyes.

"Well, yeah," Kazumi answered now fiddling with her hair. 'Get a hold of yourself Kazumi!'

"So your clan uses Tigers?" he asked looking at her from the side of his eye.

"Not exactly, they use birds... It's just that one person from each generation is chosen by a tiger to be their owner..." she answered trying to sound more confident and picked up her pace to walk alongside Kiba. "Your clan has bonds with Ninken, Right?"

"Yeah," answered Kiba and began stroking his weak body. "Do you have any sharpened senses?"

"You could say that, my ears are a lot shaper than normal people..." she said and dropped her shoulders.. 'I have no idea why I was so worried, he's a pretty nice guy...'

"That's awesome! I have a good nose and sense of smell," Kiba answered with a wolfish grin like he was proud, Kazumi returned her grin that showed her unnaturally sharp canines that matched his. "So what's your team?"

"Right now I'm not part of one, my sensei and Shoda died and another run away from the village I think.." she said sighing slightly but still grinning. They wee focusing on the conversation and they didn't notice that they were going around in a circle. "Weren't we here before?"

"Damn it!"


	2. Chapter 2

After finally returning home from their little adventure at six in the morning, Kazumi and Kiba fell asleep as soon as they entered their house. The forest turned out to be a type of Genjutsu cast to make them look like they were going around in circles. Since neither of them are good at Genjutsu, it took them a while to figure out how to release it. Once they finally got out of the woods, Kiba took Akamaru, Tsukiyama and Kazumi to his sister who is a vet. She got a bit angry at him for waking her up so early but helped them with their pets anyway. In the end, they were both so tired after running around and walking around for more than sixteen hours they didn't even reach their bed.

Everyone helped to repair the village until the next Hokage would come, no one went on jobs or tried making a disturbance. After a week, a new Hokage arrived in the village. Her name was Tsunade and she was one of the legendary Sannin. The whole village brightened up with the news, they will finally have a leader. Soon the ninja's began to going out on jobs like usual, but many still had to protect the village and stay behind. Kazumi took the opportunity to ask the Hokage about her squad and left early in the morning. Soon she was standing in front of the door deciding which place is the best to knock, she hesitated and knocked in the middle of it.

"Come in!" answered a voice from inside the room. Kazumi took a deep breath and pushed the door open. Inside was sitting a middle aged woman with long blonde hair and had her nose in documents.

"S-sorry to interrupt Lady Hokage, but I have something to ask you," starting to fiddle with her long hair again, Kazumi stepped in and closed the door behind her.

"And who are you?" Lady Tsunade asked not lifting her head from the documents.

"I'm Kazumi Yamashina," she said nervously. Her name made Lady Tsunade look up from her documents with raised eyebrows.

"So what do you want?" asked Tsunade linking her hands together.

"I-I was wondering what I should do now as my team is gone.." Kazumi got cut of by a knock on the door and the squeaking of it opening. A boy with dark spiky hair tied back walked into the room.

"Oh Shikamaru, I have a job for you.." Lady Tsunade said and straightened up placing her hands on the desk. "Late last night, Sasuke Uchiha left the Hidden Leaf Village," she began and ignored the surprised look on Shikamaru's face. "And it is quiet certain that he is heading for the Hidden Sound Village."

"He just left?! How could this happen?!" asked Shikamaru looking shocked and surprised. Kazumi however looked confused.

"Simple, Orochimaru must have him in his clutches!" Lady Tsunade responded lifting her linked hands to her mouth.

"Huh?!" Kazumi finally understood but got an uneasy feeling that she shouldn't be hearing this.

"What?! Wait, that doesn't make any sense.. What does Sasuke get to gain by talking to someone as depraved as Orochimaru?" asked the confused Shikamaru.

"His motive doesn't matter, we need to deal with it quickly. I decided it's time to have you carry out your first mission as a Chunin," the Hokage said in a dead serious tone.

"So all I gotta do is Bring Sasuke back?" he asked and then looked dead serious too.

"Yes, that's your mission. But it must be accomplished without delay and you might find it a more dangerous task than you think..." a shiver run down Kazumi's spine and she quickly began to fiddle with her hair again. Shikamaru's eyes widened with her words. "There is a strong possibility that Sasuke is being accompanied by and guarded by Orochimaru's men..."

"Well, if we're going to be facing of with them, I' gonna need a team most exclusively of Jonin and Chunin," Shikamaru shrugged and Lady Tsunade Looked down.

"I can't honor that request!" she said sharply. "As I'm sure you're aware, most Jonin have been sent out on missions. And the other shave stayed behind incase of an attack. Go round up any skilled Genin that you feel are up for the job... you have thirty minutes to leave this village!"

"The whole thing is just a drag but I do know the guy so I can't let it go..." he said putting a hand on the door knob. "But that's just the way things are I guess..."

Lady Tsunade smiled and looked up at the two twelve year olds in her room. "Hold on... there is someone I strongly recommend you to take..."

Shikamaru and Kazumi ended up listening to Naruto's shouting. "Grrr.. Hey Hold On A Second! I'll Go Get Dressed!" he shouted and ran into another room. After a minute or so, he came out wearing his orange jumpsuit stuffing Kunai knives into his pockets. "Alright! Let's Go!" Naruto said and started running but stopped in his doorway and turned around to face Kazumi. "You're coming too, right?" he asked her and she nodded. "I like your slippers!" he said and continued running. Kazumi looked down and found that she was wearing her bunny slippers and blushed quickly jogging up to them.

"I forgot to take Tsukiyama, I'll find you in a bit," she said and sprinted to her house. She opened her wardrobe and began taking out her clothes. She got dressed in a orange jumper and white shorts. She then rushed into another room where she got two short swords, which she put into her belt and a bag across her shoulder. After grabbing her small sleepy cub, she sprinted outside again forgetting to tie her hair. She saw Naruto's yellow hair and run up to him to find the three man team she left, now a six man team. "I'm back!" she said as she joined the running group. 'Be brave! They are kind people... no need to be shy!'

"Oh hey errm.." Naruto said looking over at her. "What's your name again?"

"It's Kazumi," Kazumi smiled and placed Tsukiyama on the floor to make her run.

"Hi!" a boy said wearing a grey hood and smiled at her. she somehow recognized him but wasn't sure where from, she still smiled back. The team ran up until the entrance too the village where the team captain, Shikamaru, stopped.

"Alright! LETS GO! FOLLOW ME!" shouted Naruto jumping into the air in excitement.

"Hey, err Naruto.. I'm Kinda supposed to be the Platoon Leader here. I know it's a drag but..." started Shikamaru but got interrupted by Naruto.

"Humph...You sure your the best person too direct this operation? You don't seem very reliable too me," Naruto said annoyed about the team did not listening to his excited.

"What's up with you acting like your in charge Naruto? I mean, taking orders from some body as lazy as Shikamaru is doesn't exactly thrill me either. But still.." Kiba said smirking at Naruto's face.

"But none of you get to decide who's the leader because Shikamaru is the only one of us that's a Chunin so the elders of the village clearly believe that he has what it takes to call that shots on this one..." Choji added annoyed at Naruto for his comment on his teammate.

"You know... I'm not the only Team Leader..." Shikamaru asked and pointed at Kazumi. "She's one too."

"WHAT?! That's not fair! She isn't even a Chunin like YOU! Why is she a Tem Leader!?" Shouted Naruto even more annoyed. Kazumi looked down slightly embarrassed, she then looked over at Shikamaru who rolled his eyes leaving her too explain.

"Well, I took part in the Chunin exams that were on earlier this year, but I failed in the final round. I was the only one that got into the finals from my class," Kazumi said and unconsciously fiddled with her blue hair.

"No Way!? That mean's you're as powerful as me! Did you win the match?" Naruto asked and jumped closer to her to get a nod in response. "I like you!"

"Anyway, we should start working on a plan. From what I heard, Sasuke has them Sound Ninja's guarding him and there's a big chance of us running into them, or the enemy ambushing us" Neji said and Shikamaru smirked.

"For starters, this I a rescue mission so we would be in a position of pursuit. Which means that the enemy has a major advantage over us. That said, I am arranging us in a assault position..." Shikamaru began explaining." If any of you don't follow my exact orders.. we're all gonna die. Ok we're gonna go for a single file strike formation. As we all know the most important position is the spear head, so that's gonna be... Kiba, you're up front, with all the walks you and Akamaru take you are the most familiar with the Land of Fire's terrain and with that sensitive nose of yours, you'll be able to track Sasuke's scent and any booby traps the enemy might have set. Next in line will be yours truly, Platoon leader. From that position I'll be able to use silent hand signs to direct everyone behind me and because I'm so close to Kiba I will be able to react to any situation."

"Oh an d what about ?" Naruto said with his eyes glittering in anticipation.

"Your number three," Kazumi answered drawing out he the order in the sand.

"Yeah because you're capable of executing quick move either to the front or the back." Shikamaru explained again. "After you is Choji, you might not have a lot of speed but your striking power is the greatest of the Platoon members. Then it's Kazumi, we don't know much abut her strength but seeing that she got so far in the Chunin exams, she has some power. And finally Neji, your position is the most difficult, rear lookout. I want you to use your Byakugan to scan around and warn us if there's any danger."

"Ok so take a look at this," Kazumi said pointing at a large drawing she did n the sand. "It shows which part you're responsible to look out for."

"Alright, now I need to take a look at the weaponry, the Ninja tools you're planning to use in battle," said Shikamaru and took out a small empty scroll and handed it over to Neji.

"Ok, as soon as I check out the weapons, we'll go," Neji said and wrote down everyone's name.

"Me First!" Naruto pushed past everyone and opened his leg pouch. With just one glance he scribbled down the number of each thing he had. Everyone had their tools counted except Kazumi. Once it was her turn she sat down and l began taking out all the thing she sad stuffed in her pockets, sleeves and even from her hair.

"How many thing have you got?" Kiba asked looking surprised at the amount.

"A lot... I guess," she answered quietly while still taking out Senbon from her sleeves. "Ok, I think that's it..." Kazumi said looking down at the large pile of tools she pulled out.

"May I ask what these are?" Neji asked pointing at the two short sword.

"Well, they don't really have a name, they run through my clan..." she answered shortly.

"Alright, let's move out," Shikamaru instructed...

"Wait!" a high voice called after the team.

"Huh?" they turned around to find Sakura standing in the entrance. They walked towards her leaving Kazumi behind pinning in all the Senbon and Kunai knives she took out, back into her clothes and hair. Once she was done, she walked over to the group.

"Don't worry Sakura! I promise I'll bring back Sasuke! I promise that on my life!" Naruto said putting his thumbs up at the sobbing Sakura.

"It's our mission, and we won't fail," Kazumi added trying to cheer her up and grinned showing her oddly sharp canines.

"Thank you... thank you... all..." Sakura said between her sobs

"Well Come On! What Are We Waiting For?! Let's Get Going!" Naruto shouted putting his hand up in the air. This time, the others nodded and smiled. The team got into the well thought out ordered line and began their dangerous mission.


	3. Chapter 3

The group of Ninja's were going full speed well into the evening when everyone was tired and hungry, except Naruto, and decided to set up camp for the night in a small clearing in the forest outside the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Neji and Kiba stayed around guarding the clearing from an ambush while Naruto, Choji, Kazumi and Shikamaru stayed inside building a tent and starting a fire. Naruto was rather upset at Shikamaru for stopping so early into the night but it turned out that he was the hungriest from the group.

"Oh I can't wait for the food to be ready!" Choji said rubbing his hands together and looking at the fish above the fire. Naruto called in Neji and Kiba to eat and they came back quickly.

"Right, so we wake up early tomorrow to catchup with Sasuke," commanded Shikamaru and sat down next to Choji at the fire place, closely followed by an excited Naruto, Kiba and Neji.

"When's it gonna be ready?" asked Naruto grinning at the fish and then looked around. "Where's that girl gone?"

"Now you mention I, I don't know..." Neji answered looking towards the tent.

"She wouldn't just disappear," shrugged Kiba and pretty soon she came out from between some trees and rejoined the group quietly.

"Where've you been?" Naruto asked looking over at her.

"Nowhere, I just looked around the place," she said quietly but with a smile.

"Alright, did you find anything?" Shikamaru asked and poked the fire with a stick. Kazumi shook her head and began stroking Tsukiyama. The stayed quiet looking at Naruto's and Choji's eyes digging into the food.

"Is it done already?" they sighed together and received a smirk from Kiba.

"Do you two only think about food?" he asked them and got a death stare from them. "Anyway, I think they're about ready now."

"Oh Yeah!" the two shouted before grabbing one and beginning to eat it. The rest of the team laughed at them and took their own food and began eating a bit slower than Naruto and Choji. After they ate they went back to their tent and got into their pajamas, Naruto wore a sleeping het, white vest and his orange bottoms.

Shikamaru just took of his grey jacket and sandals, just like Kiba and Neji. Choji and Kazumi just took of their sandals not bothering with anything else. The tent was rather small so they laid shoulder to shoulder. Naruto was at the edge, next to him was Choji then Shikamaru, Neji, Kiba and Kazumi. The team laid there facing the orange ceiling of the tent in silence. They were all wide awake but had no topic to discuss. After a while Kazumi opened her mouth to speak but closed it, then she opened it again and spoke. "How did you guys do at the Chunin exams?" she asked after finally getting an idea to talk about.

"I defeated Neji and Kiba! They lost so bad, but I still didn't get a pass. Shikamaru beat his opponent but gave up, Choji didn't get a chance to fight," Naruto spoke up first explaining the whole event himself and got a growl from Kiba while Neji tried acting as if he didn't hear.

"Shut up Naruto!" snarled Kiba and the small hound barked.

"Seeing that we are on this topic, how come did you not pass?" Neji asked flatly. Kazumi closed her eyes and slapped her wrist.

'Why did you even pick that topic if you knew they would ask that?! Stupid Kazumi!' She thought and opened her eyes. 'Well I'll just make something up... But I hate lying! But they will hate me if I say the truth! But if they find it out then they will hate me for lying!' She continued the argument in her head and after making up a decision she began to speak. "I umm, lost my fight and didn't pass in the finals..."

"Damn, I thought you'd have more fight in you!" Choji said and rolled over to one side Naruto gave a sound of agreement and yawned.

"I'm tired, night!" he said and closed his eyes, in an instant he was snoring and throwing his arms around in his sleep. The rest also got into a position they felt comfortable in and slowly drifted of into a sleep, dreading the morning. None of the ninja's had a exactly peaceful night. Naruto woke up extremely early in the morning with cold sweat dripping down him. The big, x-ray bright blue eyes of Naruto Uzumaki scanned his team mates and the surroundings with caution and exhaled deeply. He stood up and began to walk out to the entrance, he was just about to unzip the tent door when his foot got caught on something warm and fury. Naruto looked down, his eyes met with a white small ninken. Akamaru was staring daggers at the person who stood on his tail.

"Sorry Akamaru," whispered Naruto and lightly stepped of his tail, but Akamaru growled and stood up. He opened his mouth and sunk his teeth into naruto's leg. "OWW! STOP I'M SORRY!"

"HUH?!" the screams from Naruto woke up the whole tent in a second. Kazumi stood up straight and panted softly, somewhat relieved that it was only Akamaru, Choji was slowly staggering to his feet, Neji sat up straight inspecting Naruto with disappointment, Kiba was laughing and Shikamaru just rolled over to look at the situation and sighed.

"You know, Naruto, we could of used with a bit more sleep," said Neji with a stern look in his lavender eyes, Naruto squinted and pointed at is leg.

"It's the stupid dogs fault!" he said annoyed and roughly shook his leg to get rid of the clingy Akamaru. "Kiba Get him of me!"

"What were you doing trying to get out of the tent anyway?" Kiba asked holding out another laugh which made him turn red and puff his cheeks. Akamaru let go of Naruto's leg and hoped back to his owner.

"Come on, we don't have time to waste sleeping! We have to go and save Sasuke!" Naruto shouted and pointed at the exit. He was full of energy like he just awoke from hibernation in early spring.

"Now that we're all wake, thanks to Naruto, we might as well pack up as there's no point returning to sleep," Shikamaru said, finally stretching his body and standing up. 'What a drag... why did the hokage even tell me to bring him along? She knew he would just turn into a drag...' he thought and walked out into the cold nights air outside the tent.

"Can we have breakfast first?" groaned Choji rubbing his belly.

"Can't the breakfast wait?" Kazumi finally spoke up quietly, but felt a bit guilty after Choji gave her an evil stare. "I think it would be best to start of as early as possible,"

"But how can we go far if we don't have the fuel to take us?!" Choji argued back.

"Errm.. I. uhm" the girl was having a bad time trying to convince anyone. She stood still and began to play with her hair while she shifted through all the answers in her head.

"Choji, you can't forget that she's a leader too. Just like Shikamaru, Lady Tsunade picked he for a reason," Kiba interrupted her thoughts by lightly punching her in the arm. Kazumi turned her large green eyes toward him and smiled, she was really happy that at least one person from the team trusted her. "Let's get started."

"All right!" Naruto raced outside and with a puff of smoke, there were about 20 Naruto's running around and shouting in the dark. The team barely managed to get out before the tent collapsed and got stuffed back into a bag by the many Naruto's. "Can we go now?!"

"Get back into the order we were in yesterday and let's go," Shikamaru grunted. Kiba walkd forward to begin forming a line. Behind the dog and the boy stood the lazy Shikamaru, followed by his opposite, the energized Naruto. Naruto was followed by the only girl in the squad, behind her was a hungry Choji eating potato chips. The last man was Neji with the all seeing eyes.

"Let's go!" Kiba said and pushed of into the depths of the trees, followed by the others. It was darker than Kazumi expected it to be, a unpleasant shiver ran down her spine. They went deeper and deeper into the woods and the sky made no sign that it was morning yet. The minutes passed like ours, in a unpleasant way. It seemed like the day will never start, but at last, a silvery color tinted the sky. Finally the day began.


	4. Chapter 4

The team were supposedly on the write trail, they had narrowly avoided many bobby traps and the firsts mans nose was following the trail of the scent left behind. They were now determined to fulfil their goal, to bring Sasuke back to the village, and now it seemed a lot easier then they thought at first. But they still did not encounter any of the enemy and thus do not know how strong they could be.

Day broke a couple of hours ago and the sun was nearly directly above the teams head. The six had not stopped since they began after packing up their camp to set of again, they were all tired. one person was the most warn out, Choji. The whole of his face was shining with sweat and he was huffing far at least the last hour or so, he never was up and running for so long in his life, and the experience was not a one that he would like to repeat. The other thing that could be heard was the rapid thinking of Shikamaru and the rapid breathing of the only girl in the group, Kazumi. And finally an unusual sound popped up, Kiba gasped.

"What happened Kiba?" Neji asked who was silent most of the way, busy looking around for any signs of the enemy.

"Here's what happened; the scent of the new comers converged on the center of Sasuke and four others, the two have stayed behind and while Sasuke's group moved on forward. So what now?" explained Kiba shortly and turned his head around to face the tem leader, Shikamaru, who sighed.

"Just as I thought, Sasuke got an escort," he responded and sighed again.

"We should catch up to them fast, if we don't then they might of already reached their hide out. We don't know where they want to go to," Kazumi suggested, forgetting about the fact that she was with a unfamiliar group. She got into the role of an teammate and tried to contribute to the succession of the mission as a team leader or Captain.

"There's no question about it, we just got to go after Sasuke!" and finally Naruto made his energetic contribution, which was no help to anyone.

Choji decided to ignore it and continued. "Well Shikamaru?"

"Since Akamaru smelled blood, my guess is that there was a battle between Sasuke' group and the two new comers. If we go to the spot where they fought, we might be able to gather some useful information," Shikamaru said and the team sped up, jumping from one tree branch to another without to big of an effort. "'course we can't just rush in, it might be a trap. So when we get closer, we will get into a full reconnaissance mode and go slowly."

"And while we're doing that, Sasuke will have crossed beyond the Land of Fire and out of our hands," Neji spoke up once again.

"Ok Shikamaru, so what's it gonna be?!" shouted Naruto beginning to get impatient.

There was a long moment of silence while the team expected their leaders command. "We follow Sasuke!"

After his response, Naruto's face brightened up as if the sun shone straight down on him."Way ta go, I knew you'd make the right choice."

"One thing," Shikamaru began, Naruto tilted his head. "These guys already been in a fight, they'll have to know that their will be more shinobi on their trail. There's a good chance that we will hit some booby traps, or even an ambush up ahead," he stopped to check if there was any sound of disapproval, the only noise that came was a grunt of approval from Choji. Shikamaru continued, "So from this point on, we proceed with caution, I want everybody, not just Akamaru, to put all your scenes on full alert. If you catch a trace of anything suspicious, sound the alarm. We ant to find these guys, before they find us.

"And when we find the, I'm gonna clobber them with this brand new Jutsu of mine!" Naruto exclaimed enthusiastically, but got a rather negative response from Kiba.

"Guys, the enemies scent is here, all around us!"

"Everyone, STOP!" on this command, the group halted on the next tree trunk. "Look up on that tree, see that?"

"A paper bomb? I'm sure there's five more of them, a primitive area, that's what it is," Neji said looking up at the red tag pinned to the tree.

"A primitive area?" asked Choji not understanding.

"It's an area where there are certain traps set around, waiting for the person to get to the center of it for the full effect," the highest ranked Shinobi explained and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's a tricky Jutsu, I learned about it in one of the books my dad used to make me read."

"Aww great, now we got around it..." Kiba said and looked down before jumping of the tree branch.

"Then that gives us more time to actually collect information about them then," Kazumi said and followed Kiba's lead, jumping of the branch and landing softly on the ground. She wasn't that confident with what she just said and decided to continue. "We could measure their intelligence based on if they put up any more traps, right?"

"Exactly, if they didn't put up any booby traps then they must be complete morons. Or think that we are complete idiots," Shikamaru added after landing next to Kazumi.

After a couple of minutes, the forest looked like it was a wire production line. There was silver threads spiraling and standing beneath the groups feet. The deeper they went in, the more traps they found. But all the traps were extremely careless and visible, like the enemy was not even thinking about making them affective.

"This forest is crawling with booby traps," Kiba growled after stepping over, what seemed like the one hundredth, booby trap.

"Yeah, but luckily they're easy to spot. The enemy is moving fast and getting sloppy," Shikamaru said his thoughts aloud an also stepped over the thin wire.

"Hmm, Naruto, do me a favor and watch where you going. I don't want you blowing us all up, there's trip wires everywhere" the first man said to Naruto which was not walking in a straight line.

"Humph, tell me something I don't know," he answered carefully leading his foot over one. Just as he was doing that, Shikamaru noticed another wire that was less visible after the first one.

"NARUTO HOLD IT!" Naruto froze in mid-step. One of his feet was just centimeters away from the invisible wire, whilst the other was barely on tiptoes. Shikamaru was found in the same position as he, just balancing by holding onto Choji's white scarf. " Phew, got him, but just in time with I just caught him with the shadow possession Jutsu."

"DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO WATCH YOUR STEP!? YOU MORRON!" All the shouting made a flock of birds flutter away from the surrounding trees. Neji helped Naruto and Shikamaru back into a normal standing position and Shikamaru let go of the Shadow possession Jutsu. " Jee, it's really hard work with you on the team."

"Hey! It's not my fault that I didn't see the other one!" Naruto responded crossing his arms.

"It's a good thing that Shikamaru stopped you just in time," added Choji who was fixing his scarf. Things could've ended up being messy."

"I guess the enemy isn't that sloppy after all. We need to be on our guard," Kazumi said, stroking Tsukiyama who was running by her side all the time, and kneeling down to look at the two wires.

"I get it, one wire catches the light while the other is camouflaged and harder to see. While you're busy avoiding the first, you trip the second," Shikamaru said looking closer at the trap.

"They've created a trap within a trap. They're clever, Whoever they are," Neji added looking down with his lavender eyes.

"All their over traps were quick and dirty as if they were moving fast, but not this one," said Shikamaru.

He looked over at Neji who clapped his hands together, folding his pinkie and ring finger. "Byakugan," He activated his visual Ninjutsu, scanning the road in front of them, leading his vision to the enemies group. "I see them!"

"Well lets Go! I'm dying to show these clowns what I got!" Naruto jumped up and grinned.

"Hate ta disappoint ya hot shot, but I got a new Jutsu I've been working on too," Kiba took Naruto's comment as some sort of battle call, his comment was backed up with Akamaru's bark.

"Yeah me too!" added Choji. The team was exited to finally be in range of the enemy.

"Alright, calm down, first we make a plan and get every thing ready, then we go in and take them out!"


	5. Chapter 5

"Ok, so what's the plan?" Naruto asked getting impatient. The group was crouching in a circle, getting ready to strategize their plan with Shikamaru.

"We'll think of something, but first we need to now each of out team mates ability," the team turned their heads to the only person who they didn't see fighting yet, Kazumi. "You'll have to tell us exactly what your abilities are."

The girls cheeks became red compared to her pail skin and her eyes lifted up from the ground meeting the eyes of the expectant team. "Ehm, I think the most useful technique of mine would be my animal transformation Jutsu... I believe that my other techniques are a bit better in, errm, one on one combat, I guess. Umm, and I should be able to that use my water Jutsu, but I haven't mastered it yet and it takes a load of my chakra at once..."

"You seem pretty weak, no wonder you didn't pass the chunin exa..." Naruto didn't finish his criticizing because Kiba pushed his head down, his nose was half buried in the dirt. "AUCH! Kiba! What was that for?!"

"Sorry about him, I'm sure that you'll come in use for something," said Kiba loudly, letting go of Naruto who averted his gaze on him, his lips twitching in annoyance.

"It's alright, I'm really not that strong. I'd be surprised if you'd even let me fight alone to be honest," Kazumi sighed and looked back at Naruto. "I bet you wouldn't even have to use your shadow clones to take me down.."

"I think that Kazumi's animal transformation Jutsu will be quiet handy to be honest. I think I got a plan." And so, Shikamaru started his long explanation about the plan, it was flaw less. There weren't many holes which the enemy could take them down through, it was well thought out indeed.

The time seemed to flow slower and slower the longer they waited to put the plan into action. Naruto, to everyone's annoyance, was being unbearably louder than before. "Awh guys... come on! Let's do this already..." Naruto groaned while pacing around tree's in a number eight figure. He was doing this for so long that the ground eroded beneath him.

"Naruto, your whining won't speed up time, your just making this harder for everyone," added Kiba but his words didn't seem to reach Naruto's mind. He kept on pacing around. Kiba was stroking Akamaru and still sniffing the air for any changes that might be connected to the enemies movement.

"Guys, I think it's time to act," Kazumi said, to everyone's surprise. Naruto shot her a overwhelmingly exited look and in half a second found himself sitting next to her, nodding and giving sounds of an agreement. But, pretty soon,

"What do you mean? The enemy still haven't moved yet," said Neji still looking at the enemy with his great eyes.

"I know, but I think that someone would need to make them feel endangered to make them move..." she argued quietly, her words were accompanied by Naruto's approval sounds and nods as he signaled her to continue. "U-uhm, it would speed up the mission?"

"Uhm, I guess it would make everything easier and stuff. But it would be such a drag to plan everything out," Shikamaru moaned and scratched his head with a tired expression on his face.

"O-ok then," said Kazumi and dropped her head to look at her little partner grooming herself.

"You're so lazy Shikamaru!" The yellow head shouted and scoffed at Shikamaru who looked calmly back at him. Naruto stood up and began to walk around again, this time, he was followed by Tsukiyama.

"No, I think he's right. I mean, it would be him who would be doing the plan, not you or me. Right?" Following Naruto's lead, Kazumi stood up and walked over to a tree and leaned on its large trunk.

The team sat getting all the plan ready to act in time, waiting patiently for Neji's signal that it was time to act. Each was physically and mentally preparing themselves for a harsh battle. Naruto was letting out his ange into a tree, Shikamaru was sitting and re-thinking all the possibilities that the team can take after they compete the plan. However, Choji was preparing himself by eating, similarly to Kiba and Akamaru who were just playing with each other. Kazumi was building up large amounts of chakra to start of the battle and Neji was still concentrating on being the lookout. "It's time." He said after a long wait.

"Well Let's do This!" Naruto shouted looking over at Kazumi who looked back and nodded.

"Great, I'm nearly ready as well! Let's get start," She said after weaving a numerous number of signs with her hands. "Animal transformation Jutsu!" After she said that, a puff of dense smoke devoured her and leaving behind a large eagle with oddly blue feathers mixed with it's auburn one's and. "Ready, Tsukiyama will follow you guys."

Cautiously, the eagle batted its enormous wings and lifted its body into the clouded skies. "We'll have to be quick," Shikamaru grunted and the others nodded. In a flash, the team were sprinting towards their enemies. One they were in sight, Shikamaru and Neji hid in a bush, out of sight of the enemy, but were still able to see them with Neji's Visual Ninjutsu.

It was all going as Shikamaru planned, but no matter how hard he thought, he did not predict the enemies next move. One of them stood up with a golt and through a kunai at then, just missing Neji and piercing a tree." HUH?!" their eyes widened as the noticed three pieces of paper attached to them, of which one was ignited.

They had no option but to jump before the chain explosion went of. The landed, with the help of the paper-bombs, right in front of the enemy. The pair looked up at the odd looking group, coughing up dirt they swallowed when landing. Well well, thought I was flushing a snake out the bushes, but all I got was a couple of mice," scoffed a man with two heads and silver hair.

Shikamaru got alarmed and had to make up something new, fast. "Eerrmm, wait a minute! Cam down. We're here to negotiate, not to fight. Can't we talk this over like reasonable people?" he said lifting his hands up in front of his body to guard himself from any attack the might throw at him.

"Heh, let's not forget your friends, shall we?" another added, pulling two invisible string forward and sent the rest, Naruto, Kiba and Choji, flying in the direction where Neji and Shikamaru sat. But, just before landing, Kiba smashed a purple ball against the ground, making a purple smoke screen hide his allies from the enemy.

Flying clumsily above them, the odd looking bird looked down with a unnatural worried expression for a bird. It cursed under it's breath and bated it's wings to lower itself to get a clearer view of the situation. It eyed its pray carefully with her its large green before swooping in into a nearby tree. The eagle land just in time to see Shikamaru trap the enemies in his clan's special Jutsu. But as soon as he did that, the enemies counter attacked. Three small shuriken spun out of a tree behind him, distracting him enough to break his Jutsu.

The tallest of the opposing team placed his hands into the ground. "Earth style barrier, Earth Dome Prison!" The team gasped as the ground cracked in front of them and building up a dome around them Choji began to scream and dropped his packet of chips to the floor. In less than a second, the team was fully trapped in the structure and out of sight of Kazumi. The remaining members of Orochimaru's men left the tall guy and continued walking into the forest.

The only teammate left outside the trap began to worry. 'Oh no... I'm the only one left outside and the rest are inside. What should I do? I could release Tsukiyama's but that would take away her chakra for a bit and I'm not sure if I'll be the one fighting that guy. But then again, he looks rather week the way he is now. He is completely open to all attacks.' Kazumi rapidly thought and sighed.

'No other choice.' She folded her two wings together and transformed back into the short girl she was. After that she swiftly jumped of the tree and ran up to the dome as quietly as she could. She placed her two hands onto the stone, hoping to receive the same sign from her partner, she waited a couple of seconds until she could feel a small amount of chakra flowing through the wall.

"Matatabi, Transform!"


	6. Chapter 6

"Wait for me guys!" A small girl with silvery-blue hair and ill looking shouted after a group of children running around in a large field filled with different types of flowers and animals. She was one of the youngest of the group, but also the one the knew least about out of their friend group. The kids stopped playing and tuned to face the girl dressed in small torn clothes.

"Hurry up then!" a boy her age with brown shouted back to her with a smile. The girl sped up but tripped and landed face first in the long meadow grass. The group started laughing and giggling at her.

"Heh heh, I-I should be more careful next time," she said crawling back to her feet and now gracefully walking to the group two steps in front of her.

"Yeah, so what should we play this time?" asked a tall girl with dark ginger hair.

"Maybe we should play 'Ninja'?" suggested another boy who had blonde hair and was also tall.

"I don't see why not, we should make it a bit more exiting this time though. I'm bored of playing I normally," complained the tall girls friend, a pretty girl with green hair.

"I've got an idea. We should fight the person who we find!" said the blonde haired boy looking hopefully over at another boy who had dark hair and wealthily dressed, he was the oldest by two years.

"You guys, I'm not to sure about this. We might hurt each other and it could be dangerous," the young girls spoke up but the group surrounding her snickered at her.

"Just because you'd lose straight away Kazumi!" laughed the pretty girl and Kazumi looked down regretting that she ever spoke up.

"Let's just pick who's going to be the Ninja's," said the neatly dressed boy. "I'll be on a team with Kazumi and Kyushichi."

"Ok then we'll be on a team together then," said the boy with blonde hair looking at the two girls with an odd grin. "let's go!"

The team consisting of two girls and one boy ran out into the field while the other stayed counting. Once they counted up to fifty, Kyushichi walked a couple of steps away from Kazumi and Isouko, he turned around and grinned. "I'll be the first one too catch one, no, I'll catch two before you can!" He said and raced of into the field. Isouko turned his head to face his younger sister and looked at her sternly. He placed his hands together and with a puff of smoke, the young boy now looked about sixteen.

"They did it again Sayuri, didn't they?" he said in a stern and dangerous voice.

"N-no, I just ran into a tree, that's all," the girl said shaking her head and smiling.

"Don't give them stupid excuses! Listen, you're not able to keep this up for much more. The last time you ate was with me two days ago!" he argued back getting annoyed quickly. His dark eyes looked down at his thin and neglected sibling and sighed. "You have to get away from your parents."

"Isouko, I-I really am fine. And e-even if I wanted to o something, I wouldn't be able to in the current condition I'm in," she said and looked down again.

"I'll help you run away from them. We'll do this tomorrow, I'll get you to a different Ninja village, one in the land of fire."

* * *

"What's that cat doing?" Kiba said looking over at Tsukiyama, the small cub, who was placing her paws across the stone wall, searching for her masters chakra flow.

"Just ignore it Kiba, we have to focus on getting out of here," answered Shikamaru. "Try using fang over fang again,"

"Got it."

While the team were attempting everything they had up their sleeves, Tsukiyama finally found her partners Chakra and gave of her own Chakra to notify her that she was ready. She was intensifying the flow of Chakra to make the Jutsu that her owner wanted to use possible, after she built up enough, she began to absorb Kazumi's Chakra. Now she was waiting for Sayuri to release the seal she cast upon Matatabi. Finally, Sayuri said her part and released the part if the seal that was placed on her.

The usually small tiger cub began to grow in size and its cote began to envelop in bright blue flames. Its pupils disappeared and left behind two oddly coloured reflectors, one green one yellow. And so did Kazumi's. It sprouted large sharp fangs and another long tail. Matatabi stopped evolving when she was just taller than the tallest person in their squad, Neji Hyuga.

"What the?!" Choji shouted watching the cub grow larger and larger. The squad automatically readied their Kunai and prepared to attack.

"What's with that thing?" Shikamaru was shocked at the powerful chakra emitting from it. He looked over at Neji, about to command him to inspect the chakra, but he already was doing so. "Can you tell us what that thing is?"

"No, but it has similar chakra to the one that's deep within Naruto," answered Neji and looked at Naruto with his penetrating eyes.

"Mine? You mean.." Naruto stared but was cut of by Matatabi's cool female voice.

"I shall explain my appearance later, for now, I will explain the situation outside and all the information Sayuri gathered. Just for reference, I am not an enemy of yours. My name is Matatabi," She explained in the shortest way possible. But, her explanation did not satisfy the trapped squad and they remained in a position ready to attack the giant flaming kitten.

"Tell us, what exactly are you?!" Kiba shouted at her.

"If I told you, you would be unsettled by my presence," she responded.

"You'll be in pieces if you don't!" Naruto interfered and hurled himself at her large body.

"I doubt that. But if you insist, I'll give you a hint," one of her tails swooped round her body and gently pushed Naruto back after blocking his attack. Her attitude was extremely calm given the odds she faced.

"Stop playing games with us already!" he shouted at her but she didn't move a muscle just smiled.

"Wait Naruto, let's just listen to her. She doesn't seem like she is going to harm us," Shikamaru said and nodding at Matatabi to make her continue.

"I see there is someone that has some knowledge. I will give you two hints, after these two, you will have no choice but to accept me as a teammate," She began calmly and lifted her two long tails up. "As you can probably see, I have two tails, your not old enough to remember the event that happened in Konoha. The second is that Naruto Uzumaki would be the only one capable of defeating me. And if you are as smart as you seem to be Nara clan boy, you would be able to figure it out with the Byakugan."

At her words, Naruto's eyes widened and placed a hand on his stomach. "Don't tell me.." he began but thought better and didn't continue. He just looked up and nodded at Matatabi. "It's better not to start fights with her. But still, you shouldn't ..."

"Thank you. Anyway, with me manifesting in a place where the user of the Jutsu absorbs the trapped persons chakra, things could not be better. After absorbing my chakra, the person tends to be out of it for a longer while. The dome should collapse soon, just like the caster." Matatabi said ignoring Naruto's lecturing.

"Can you lease tell us how you know all this because..." Neji was also cut of by Matatabi.

"Prepare to escape soon, my chakra has entered the casters body and he will soon disconnect from the jutsu."


	7. Chapter 7

The young girl headed of back home later in the evening. Most children would be happy about going back and seeing their parents again after a day full of excitement, however, this girl was not. She was feeling the exact opposite entering the small settlement where the house that she lived in stood. With a sad face, she ventured through the street and around a corner so that she was finally in view of her small house. She slowly walked up to it and gently placed her knuckles on the door and knocked twice.

Before she had time to knock a third time, the door smashed open and a woman with blonde hair and a stern face stood in the door way. The woman smiled at her daughter bearing her white teeth. "Get in," she said not moving her lips or jaw. The young Kazumi gulped and stepped though the threshold into the small cramped house. "Now what did I tell you about going with them kids?!" she shouted grabbing her daughters hair and pulled it up so that the girl had to stand on tiptoes from pain. "You can stay out on the balcony tonight, and the neighbors are coming over tomorrow night so stay out of the house until about three!" the woman let go of her daughters hair, leaving her fragile body to drop to the cracked wooden floor.

The floor creaked as Kazumi stood up and walked over to a hall in the wall which she crawled through, with the help of her mums kick. On the other side was a tiny stone platform with low metal railings surrounding the edges and no roof, leaving her exposed to the rain. There was just enough room for her to lie down with her bony feet hanging of the edge and her head toughing the cold metal. She lied there looking at the clouded stars and pondered, 'this is the last time that I'm going to sleep on this cold stone. Tomorrow I won't even have to think about wanting food," she smiled at the bright future that she imagined. 'I wonder where big brother will take me, he said that he will take me to a place where I'll be able to become stronger in, and then to the land of fire!'

Once the first rays of the sun approached the land of lightning, Kazumi jolted up and leaned over the metal railings. She looked over her shoulder to check if her fake parents weren't looking at her through the hole. After gathering up enough courage, she hooked one leg up over the bars and was about to pull over the other, but her leg that was placed on the edge slipped. She lost her balance and flew of the balcony landing face first into the dry earth, making her nose bleed. She pushed herself up and looked around for her older brother, after not seeing him, she looked down in disappointment. As she did, she saw a small mouse with a not on its back.

She leaned over to get it and studied it. The note said 'Follow him and you will find me, B'. The girls faced beamed up and she stood up. With her actions, the rat also began sprinting of up the road followed by Kazumi. The rat lead right to the person that she was hoping to see the most, her big brother, Isouko. Like before, he wore a dark top with a grey jumper and black trousers too. His dark and sad appearance gave of an aura that suggested that he should be a person to avoided, but it didn't affect his younger sibling who threw her hands around his waist. "Where are we going Isouko?" she asked looking hopefully at him and he smiled at her and hugged back.

"We are going out of town to a ninja village called The Hidden Cloud Village," Isouko said and broke up their hug. "Let's get going before everyone awakes."

"OKAY!" Kazumi said loudly and whipped away the blood from her nose. She started walking and expected her brother to follow her, but instead he stood still and frowned at her. "W-what's the matter big brother?"

He gestured with his hand to return to him. She did as his actions said and he crouched down to be on the same level as Kazumi was. "But first, we are going to get some food," he said and grabbed the girl and placed her on his back. "You are light as a feather, you know you have to eat a lot if you wan to walk a lot," with his words, Kazumi started grinning and placed her thin hands on his neck as he started walking. "We'll stock up on a food shop out of the village just to be safe. Okay Sayuri?"

"It sounds great to me, I'm starving," she said and leaned her head on his neck. The swaying of his foot steps made her feel sleepy and she began to drift of to her own dimension to regain all the lost time in there.

Isouko's face lost it's cheerful ness and le looked down with a frown. "I know you are Sayuri, I know and very I'm sorry." he mumbled qietly and slowed down his walking pace to allow the girl to sleep peacefully.

After a couple of hours, past mid-day, her eyes flickered open into the blinding light of day. For a couple of seconds she felt dazed and forgot who was carrying, why they were carrying her and where they were going. She looked at the back of Isouko's head and beamed, remembering that she was freed from her chains. Her head lifted to look around the dense green surroundings of the trees, while she was admiring that trip. her stomach gave of a loud rumble. "Eerrmm, Sorry?" she said timidly.

"Heh heh, I see your finally awake?" Isouko laughed and sped up his waling. "And just in time too, we are nearly at the inn. How did you sleep Sayuri?"

"Never better. Bother, can I ask you something?" she said with a light smile that got plastered to her face since she woke up.

"Go on," he said back and turned a corner into a dirt pathway.

Kazumi cleared her throat and began. "Why do you call me Sayuri when I prefer the name Kazumi? And why couldn't you fight my parents, your strong so you would defeat them."

"Because that's you real birth name, why should I call you by a name that a stranger gave you. And, you should know that them people you call your parents are veteran Shinobi from the second great ninja war. I wouldn't stand a chance facing them two together," Said Isouko with a clouded expression, but forged a smile when he got in view of a small dumplings and ramen shop. "That's it."

"Wow, I'm hungry just by looking at it. I'll eat the biggest portion of sweet dumplings and the biggest bowl of rice balls!" Izaya shouted as they walked into the restaurant. The air smelt sweat and full of different types of spices. "It smells great too."

The restaurant was a peaceful and quiet place. They were the only customers there at the two sibling kneeled down by a window, worn out by the long and exhausting trip, Isouko told Kazumi to order the food and drinks she liked and order him some rice balls and a drink. Once she came back, a round man followed her with three large dishes of rice balls, two large ones of dumplings and four cups of green tea. "Do you want me to go skim? Who's going to eat all this?"

"Who else than me?" Kazumi responded picking up her chopsticks and digging it into her rice ball. "Thank you very much for the food." asfter saying that, she began hovering all the plates so that not a grain of rice was left on the plates. It was hard for her brothers eyes to keep up with the movement of her hands an mouth. She was done quicker than the chef could give the check out to Isouko. he left the restaurant with an empty wallet, ut with a cheerful and happy Sayuri, which made him also happy.

"We will head straight to the Hidden Cloud Village from here, it's not that far so you can go on foot. And with you eating that much, I doubt that I would be able to lift you," he said and looked over at the silver haired girl that grinned at him with few grains of rice surrounding her mouth.

"Thank you brother. I wouldn't survive this long without you Isouko."


	8. Chapter 8

The squad assigned to the mission of returning Sasuke to Konoha still did not entirely trust the tiny manifestation of the two tailed beast that transformed. They were confused as it kept on referring to a person called Sayuri, how could they know if that person was not an enemy? But nether the less, they decided to trust Matatabi for the time being, until she told them exactly where she came from or what she was. "We should run in the opposite direction from the caster, there is a weaker wall there so it will be easier to escape unscathed," said the flaming two tails in a cool voice.

"How do you know all this?" asked Choji

"I will explain it all when the Jutsu breaks," she said concentrating on the wall. She noticed a couple of cracks around the stone wall and was beginning to get impatient, she lifted one of her long flaming tails and smashed it against the wall with the largest crack on, sending the tones outwards into the fresh air. "Now!" once the hoe cleared of the dust, everyone jumped out of the trap seconds before the whole structure collapsed, re-grouping with their teammate Kazumi.

"Great! I'm Glad your all safe!" Kazumi said and runned over to them. She turned her head to the blue flaming kitten and smiled even wider than she already was. "I haven't seen you in this manifestation for a while now, Matatabi."

At Kazumi's recognition of the two tailed kitten, the whole team got confused. "How do you know this thing?" Neji asked looking at Kazumi and Matatabi having a short exchange of words.

"You're like me! Aren't you?!" shouted Naruto and the two females shot a cold glare at him, warning him not to speak anther word. It looked like he got the message as he took a step back and was quivering.

"I know that it's a drag but maybe we could leave this conversation until later and concentrate on our mission now?" Shikamaru interrupted and glanced over at the weary caster of the Jutsu.

"They managed to escape my Barrier Ninjutsu," he said breathing heavily.

Everyone looked at him and soon began their own conversation, ignoring the guys mumbling. "Well, he's all alone. I'm guessing that the rest went on ahead," Shikamaru said and Neji took action by using his Byakugan to scan ahead.

"You're right, they're nowhere to be seen," he said and looked over at Shikamaru, awaiting new instructions.

Shikamaru sighed and said, "Swell, and just when I thought we caught up to them." The team stood around looking at the enemy and deciding what to do with him. Kazumi was absorbing the small manifestation she created back into herself, leaving the small tiger cub sitting besides her. Jirobo, for an odd reason, raised his ands above his head and began to clap.

"Not a bad bit of handy work you got there guys, for a bunch of losers that is," he said. Naruto and Kiba acted instantly. Their temper rose and the they were annoyed.

"What did you say?!" Naruto shouted clenching his fists.

"Who are you calling losers?!" Kiba sprang of and hurled himself at Jirobo, followed by Naruto. The enemy smiled like he was expecting that reaction, he didn't move an inch to dodge them. "Now that we're out, your toast pall!"

"Out'a the way, this guy's mine!" Naruto argued and continued sprinting towards him.

"Guys wait! He's trying to make you attack him!" Kazumi shouted and Neji also contributed.

"Wait you two! Stop!" he shouted and finally the two hot headed ninja stopped. "There's no way we can take him head on, it's too dangerous."

"We just tore through this clowns barrier, how tough can this guy be?" Kiba asked sarcastically and weaved a couple of hand signs. His body turned into a grey small hurricane driven at the enemy, but he dodged it with ease. Next up was Naruto, he sprang of and created a shadow clone in mid-air, the two Naruto's prepared a punch, but Jirobo destroyed the shadow clone and punched the real Naruto instead.

Once the two were defenseless on the floor, Jirobo took the chance and attempted to set up the trap once again. "You wouldn't even do as an appetizer. " He placed his hands on the floor as he did before and the rock began to crack and snap. "Earth style Barrier! Earth dome prison!"

But before the dome even started to form, "Expansion Jutsu! Human Boulder!" Choji's core grew to about three times it's usual size, and started spinning on the spot, making the rocks and dust create a smoke screen. Seizing the opportunity, the team raced into cover. However, Naruto and Kiba still seemed annoyed and did not feel like backing down from a competitive fight.

"Naruto, Kiba! Hurry it up!" Kazumi shouted realizing it.

You guys go on ahead, ill deal with this guy!" Naruto growled back with gritted teeth.

"If you think ill let you fight instead of me, your dead wrong mate!" Kiba said accepting the challenge that was not even set. Kazumi realized that they wont go by their own will, she walked up to them, grabbed their arms and began tugging them towards the bushes where the rest were. The two finally let go of the idea to get into a fight and followed Kazumi to the where the rest were.

The smoke cleared, just after they reached a bush where the rest of the team were. They sat down and Shikamaru started the conversation, with a gloomy note, "We're running ot of time, we got to split up."

"What'd be the point of that though?" Asked Naruto after cooling down.

"No, he's right. With all our chakra taken away, even with the six of us we wouldn't stand a chance against him. He's not going to be easy to take out. And with every second that passes, Sasuke gets further and further away and coser to the border. Once he crosses, you can forget about bringing him back," Neji said shortly. Naruto was still unsure of this plan. Kazumi looked at Naruto with raised eyebrows.

"But what if someone gets killed in this fight?!" he argued.

"If you think that we can't defeat an enemy alone, you would be calling us weak. You just tried fighting him, what makes you think that you can fight him when any of us can't?! Please, I don't know this Sasuke guy or Orochimaru, but what I do know is that if he gets Sasuke it will cause problems for not only you but also for the nations," said Kazumi who was getting lost in her emotions and her dork eyes became even darker.

"It's settled then, I'll fight this guy!" Said Choji with a determined voice.

"Just be careful, this guy's strong."


	9. Chapter 9

"Nnngh! Brother, I can't go any longer!"

"You only walked for about an hour."

"Awh come on! I'll die if we don't rest soon.

"You'll die if you don't become a shinobi," Isouko said to, a young girl with short silver hair and large dark eyes, his sister with a sudden serious expression. Kazumi grabbed onto his coat and was dragged along the floor by him.

"Please.." she moaned trying to pull her brother to a holt. "Can't we stop to get a drink? I'll become a shinobi when I'm ready, and now isn't the time!"

The tall man stopped and looked at the girl with his dark eyes. "If you expect to become a great shinobi; you need to be physically and mentally strong. At this moment, you're neither.

"Humph! Fine! If you want me to die then so be it!" Kazumi said angrily and sped up her walk. Smirking, her brother followed her without changing his pace.

A couple of hours later, the brother and sister were climbing a mountain which held the Village hidden in the clouds on the other side. By this time, Kazumi was dripping in sweat and staggering up the steep rocks. To Isouko's surprise, Kazumi didn't stop at all the whole time. He watched in amazement as she pushed up the hill at a amazing speed. 'No normal child could have this much power at the age of 7,' he thought following her up the hill.

Nearing to the top a strong scent of smoke and blood reached the siblings noses. It was obvious that something was wrong. They rushed up the hill at a sprint, once they were at the top, their eyes met a scene that many wouldn't be able to describe. Destruction. The village was burning with scorching flames, houses were crushed in level with the ground. Many people were lying on he ground, screaming for their life.

After snapping out of the hypnosis, Isouko grabbed his sister and sprinted down the hill pushing of the tree's and rocks to accelerate his speed. "Hold tight Sayuri," he said with the flames reflecting in his shocked and worried eyes. The girl nodded still shocked by the sight she just saw. It terrified her. She never knew that a single being could posses such destructive power. Her eyes were attracted like a magnet to the giant cat like figure which was enveloped in majestic blue flames. She was afraid of it, but she could feel that it was more afraid of her than she was.

"Brother, what's that?" Asked Kazumi not parting her eyes with the creature. The tall man ignored her question and continued sprinting down the was that creature? The creature that made such chaos but attracted her so much. She wondered where it came from and how they would get rid of it. Surely they wouldn't kill it, it could be an endangered specie of cats. Without her realizing, the two were in the middle of the scorching city of flames that towered above them. "I've got enough1 Tell me what's going on?! Why are we running into it when everyone else is getting outa here?!" Kazumi screamed grabbing her brothers collar.

"I'll tell you when I find her," murmured Isouko jerking his head to each sideway they passed. They were gradually getting closer to the creature. The closer they got, the louder the shouts were. With sweat pouring his face, Isouko sped up immediately, rushing to help out.

Seeing the worried expression on her brothers face, Kazumi decided to keep her mouth shut and observe the surroundings carefully. Many of the people who were rushing wore the same clothes, a dark blue top and a top layer which was a white sachet the was pinned around their right shoulder. Isouko finally stopped and leaned over to get a couple of deep breathes. Kazumi jumped out of his grip and looked around.

They were standing right before the blue flaming cat. When she got a better look at it, she noticed it had two tails instead of one. She stood there staring at the creature throwing flame balls at its surroundings. She was shaken out of her daydream by a low and aggressive voice shouting at her. "Got out kid! Unless you want to get killed!"

"Huh?" she was taken by surprise and turned her head to where she thought the voice came from. Her large eyes reached a darker skinned, tall, muscular man who looked rather beaten up. His white hair looked like it was brushed the other way and had a bit of blood in it to. He was topless and was wearing a large and heavy belt.

"Didn't you here me, get out!" the man shouted once again. Kazumi was confused and calmly walked up to him.

"I don't think that would help you at the moment sir. I read a book about these creatures before, it said that it had to be sealed into a person to get rid of it, right?" She said without even understanding what came out of her mouth.

"Sayuri! Do as he sais!" Isouko said and stepped forward to the muscular man. "Reikage, where is the sealing squad and who is it going to be this time then sir?"

"The healing squad was injured but can still preform the Jutsu with my help. The next jinchuriki is Yugito Nii, but her chakra is to low to seal the whole of the two tails away," said the man who was called the Reikage by Isouko, whatever that meant.

"We could use her as to seal the rest of it's chakra away," Isouko said after a moment of thought. Kazumi looked up at him with fear in her eyes. 'I'm sorry Sayuri, but this is for the best.'

"What do you mean? This child has no chakra at all! How could it be able to control to seal?" The Reikage shouted and looked over at Kazumi. "I'll let the sealing team have a look at her." With the mans command, Kazumi was suddenly accompanied by two men wearing an odd dark uniform. As suddenly as they came, as suddenly they took he away."

They were standing behind a building that was not on fire. "W-what do you want from me?" Kazumi stuttered. She noticed that her confidence drained out of her when she was separated from her brother. One of the men put his hand on her head and the other one put a hand on her chest. "S-stop touching me!" she commanded trying to fidget around, but her body was frozen.

"She's got more chakra than the over one!" one of the men said and let go of her small chest. "Who would've expected that such a small person would have more chakra than the other one which is the most powerful of her year."

"Yeah that is a surprise," said the other and let go of her head and had slight proudness in his voice. "Sir Reikage will be pleased to hear that!"

"I-I want to know what will happen to me!" shouted Kazumi once again but now feeling fear run through her body. "P-please, take me back to m-my brother," she asked again and now tears running down her bony cheeks. The two men ignored her and grabbed her again. Before she knew it, they were standing before the Reikage and Isouko.

"She'll do sir," one of the men said and the other nodded in agreement.

"Bring the others and prepare the sealing squad!" the muscular man shouted and jumped towards the flaming cat. He began to wrestle with it, which was an amazing sight as the size difference was terrifying. Kazumi turned her face to her brother and opened her mouth to speak, but no words escaped it. She just stood the with tears running down her eyes. It was the first time in a while she felt this way. Terrified of what will happen to her next.

A couple of seconds later, a whole squad of people wearing the same odd uniform appeared. One of them was holding another girl, she was older than Kazumi and was unconscious. She had shoulder length blonde hair and was average height for her age, 13. They placed her on the floor and then walked over to the other girl. They picked her up and placed her a couple of meters away from the older one.

The whole squad circled them and placed their hands on the floor. As soon as hey did that, a large net appeared above their heads. It was a calm blue color, nearly silvery. Kazumi stared at it for a while, but after a few seconds, she wasn't able to see nor feel a thing. It felt like she drifted to a whole new universe entirely, a worry free one. One that felt like she was with her brother again.


	10. Chapter 10

Sun rays streamed into the hospital room where Kazumi laid. The bright rays awoke her and she slowly opened her eyes to the pristine white ceiling above her. She was confused and didn't remember much of any event that happened before, she did not even know where she was. Not having much energy, she pushed herself up and noticed tubes sticking out of her arm. Her thin hand grabbed them and began tugging them away. When they finally gave in, a searing pin spread through her arm and she felt something warm drop from her hand.

Her dark eyes scanned the clean room and landed on a leaver labeled 'call for help' which was next to a dark blue curtain. Seeing no other choice, she got out of bed and walked over to it, but another thing caught her attention. She peeked though a paring in the curtain to find another occupied hospital bed. Lead by curiosity, Kazumi slipped through the parting in the curtain and walked over to the other patient. The girl wasn't sure where she was or what happened so she tapped the females back to ask her. "E-excuse me? S-sorry to interrupt your sleep. Are you a-awake?" She said and was surprised at how croaky her voice sounded.

The other patient stretched and turned around to face Kazumi. "Well now I am, So what do you want?" she said. Her appearance looked familiar to Kazumi but she couldn't put her finger on it. She was about 13 and had blonde hair and pretty light brown eyes.

"C-c-could you please help me?" asked Kazumi not really knowing what else to say and found it hard to phrase such a simple sentence in her dry mouth. The other girl sat up in her bed and looked at her. She didn't look surprised or tare out them tubes from her arm

"It depends what you need help with. So what is it?" she said in a kind yet grouchy voice. Kazumi was surprised that she agreed without even getting to know her name.

"Well, t-to be honest, I don't know what I need help with. I just want to know where I am, what happened to me an..." Kazumi's sentence was cut short.

"So basically you want to talk, right?" the older girl asked. Kazumi nodded. "Ok then, sit down and I'll get you a drink."

"Thank you," Kazumi sat down on a plastic chair and got handed a plastic cup filled with water.

After making herself comfortable in her bed and with a drink, the older patient began to speak in a much clearer voice now. "So, what's your name? Mine's Yugito Nii."

"Oh right, I-I'm Kazumi... errm..." getting embarrassed, Kazumi scavenges her memory for her last name but can't seem to remember it. 'I just have to make one up then!' "Yamashina."

"Nice name. For a start, we're in a hospital in the village hidden in the clouds, I can't tell you what happened to you until you're healed entirely. So, Kazumi, you're not from this area are you?" asked Yugito looking at her.

"Well no, I don't know where I come from, but I don't want to go back there," she responded recalling all the terrible memories.

"I can see why, look how thin you are!" said Yugito and took hold of her thin wrist only to find it dripping with blood. "What happened?! Did you tare out these?" she asked looking shocked at the amount of blood and she pointed at her forearm. She also had the same thin plastic tubed buried into her skin. "Does it hurt you?"

Nodding, she unconsciously began twirling her hair around her finger from embarrassment. "I-it does hurt a bit."

"Then we should call for someone. You know that leaver over there, give it tug." Yugito said pointing at one next to a gap in the heavy curtain. Kazumi jumped of the seat and walked over to the leaver, she gripped it and pulled it. A loud bell echoed throughout the room and following the loud noise a door slammed and a out of breath nurse ran into the curtained up enclosure.

The nurse leaned over to catch her breath. "That damn old demon! Way to many causalities! I was meant to be at home right now!" she muttered and looked up at the two girls in the room. The nurse's face seemed to fill with anger and her brows linked together. "Help yourselves you wretched monsters!" She shouted and left the room.

Yugito sighed sadly. 'It's just like master B has it. I didn't expect it all to happen so soon though,' she thought and carefully took out the tubes. "Let's go Kazumi, this hospital won't help us anymore," Yugito said quietly getting out of her bed.

"B-but, we can't go anywhere like this," said Kazumi. Confused at the nurse's behavior.

"Yeah, I guess we need to make a quick visit to the stores." Yugito responded and walked over to the door. The two managed to walked out of the hospital without being noticed and into a busy market. They were both bare feet and wore hospital robes, so they naturally attracted attention. But it seemed that it was not the things they were wearing, it was who they were that attracted the attention. 'How could it spread so fast?!'.

A few moments later, the girls entered a small clothes boutique and looked around for some clothes that weren't to expensive and would fit them. "Yugito? I don't know what to wear or what to buy," Kazumi said shortly after a while of looking at the labels and fabrics the clothes had to offer.

"Just take anything that fits you," Yugito said in a hurry. She looked around sharply and found a long sleeved green dress and a pair of white sandals. Just when Kazumi was about to try the sandals on, the shop clerk spotted the two and walked over to the.

"GET OUT!" the man's voice was so loud that Yugito flinched.

"Sir, we haven't finished shopping yet and we haven't paid," Yugito said quietly.

"Take it for free! I don't care! JUST GET THE **** OUT!" the man screamed at them, forcing Kazumi to let out a tear.

Yugito grabbed Kazumi's hand and rushed out of the small store and run across the town to a small residential part of the town. The houses were not big but could easily fit a family in. The girls walked through it until they reached a tiny bungalow which the two entered. They managed to catch the in the empty house and sighed. "why does everyone treat us like that?" Kazumi asked with tearful eyes.

Not seeing another choice, Yugito sighed once again and decided to explain the situation to the young confused girl. "You and I have the two tailed beast sealed inside us."

Shocked, she covers her mouth and finally lets the tears escape her eyes. "Would my brother treat me like this too?"

"I doubt it. Now get changed, I'll cut your hair after you do."

"Thank you Yugito. Thank you for everything. "Kazumi whipped away her tears and received a warm smile from Yugito before she went into the bathroom to get changed. Kazumi got changed into the odd looking dress and too big sandals.

"Are you done?" Yugito asked from the bathroom.

"Yeah!" Kazumi called back. Yugito walked into the living room dressed in a dark blue top and black trousers that fit her perfectly. "You look nice."

"Thanks. So, should we get to the hair?"

"Eerrmm, Yeah!"


End file.
